Currently Untitled As Of Yet
by LTGMars
Summary: After Sakura collected all of the Clow Cards and transformed them into Sakura Cards, Syaoran left to take care of business in Hong Kong. What happens when they meet on the first day of high school, after almost five long years apart? S+S; E+T and T+Y
1. Prologue

**Complete Summary:** Our favorite group of younguns are high school freshmen (10th grade). After Sakura collected all of the Clow Cards and transformed them into Sakura Cards, Syaoran left to take care of business in Hong Kong. As both of them handled the everyday challenges of life, they became less and less dependent on each other, and any unsaid feelings that may have been present while they were in the same country quickly disappeared - or so they thought. What happens when they meet on the first day of high school, after almost five long years apart? S+S fluff, with some E+T and T+Y thrown in there somewhere.   
  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except my computer and your soul. *shrugs*   
  
**Warning:** Shounen-ai wherever Touya and Yukito have romantic scenes together. [big, cheesy, shounen-ai fangirlish grin]   
  
**Key:** Thoughts are _italicized_, scene changes are marked by 15 asterisks (*), flashbacks are separated from present time by 15 "equals" signs (=) at the beginning and end, author's notes during the story are "displaced" with [brackets], and the author's notes at the beginning and end of the chapter are separated by 15 tildes (~).   
  
And no, I'm not trying to be patronizing. I just want to write as little as possible, so I figured I'd mark the transitions clearly, since it pains me to type out "Flashback" whenever one occurs. ~_~   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
**Prologue**   
  
She sighed deeply, dragging a heavy countenance behind her as she approached the auxiliary door. Remembering that this was Her Place of Business, she quickly regained her composure. Head up. Shoulders back. Chest out.   
  
That's a good girl.   
  
She looked straight at the wooden door, daring it to knock her back a few steps. Satisfied when it showed no signs of defiance, especially in this, Her Place of Business, se grinned to herself, and with one swift step forward, firmly slid the door open and stepped inside the classroom.   
  
The idle chatter amongst the people inside instantly stopped, and she allowed herself a quiet chuckle as she scanned the general layout of the area. There were about 50 desks facing the front of the room, aligned in 10 tidy rows. _No, columns_, she thought, grimacing and decidedly chastising herself.   
  
Near the back of the room, closer to where she was currently standing, were three large rectangular tables, sitting about six people each. She took one good look at that which was closest to her, and she smiled, observing the slightly tattered condition of the wood surface as well as the mild rust developing at the base of the table's legs.   
  
"Kinomoto, so nice of you to join us!" The loud, perhaps "too happy" salutation from her teacher brought her out of her dazed state of amusement, and the students who had spent those good 10 seconds of their lives staring at her snapped back to attention as well.   
  
Sakura Kinomoto was, in fact, extremely pretty, though she herself was quite unaware of it. Her light brown hair fell in wavy patterns across her back, and her eyes were a piercing emerald in color, although they held a certain tenderness within them. She smiled coolly but sincerely at the teacher, again capturing the attention of most of the boys in the room. "Am I late again?"   
  
Terada-sensei shook his head and smiled. "I saved you a nice seat in front. I've learned over the years never to trust your sense of 'punctuality'." The entire class laughed at this statement, and Sakura was finally able to relax. The dread she had first felt when she stepped up to the classroom door lifted from her shoulders. She laughed a bit and made her way to her new seat, just to stop dead in her tracks. She stared straight at the person who occupied the seat directly behind her own.   
  
She never expected to see Syaoran Li staring back.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Wow, the prologue is insanely short, isn't it? I've never been one to write long stories. X.x Well, tell me what you think so far! Oh, I like flames, too, so send them my way! *smooches insolent, malicious, pejorative, nasty-looking flamers* ^^ 


	2. Chapter 1: ReEncounter

**Warning:** Slightly "violent" language (nothing worse than what you hear the untame neighborhood 5-year-olds say, but it's one of the things that gives this story its PG rating).   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
**Chapter 1: Re-Encounter**   
  
She was... gorgeous. Though she looked so much older than when he'd left her five years ago, she still retained that pure innocence in her face that he'd cherished for so long. He spent what felt like an eternity staring at that strong, beautiful face, and he found himself at a loss for words as she stood looking back at him.   
  
  
  
===============   
====================   
"S... Sakura, I just received a phone call from my mother." Syaoran lifted his head and looked with sad eyes at his companion. Sakura sat silently next to him on the rough park bench, refusing to look at him and knowing what he had to tell her would hurt - somehow, somewhere in the depths of her heart, she knew that she would be hurt by the words that he forced out of his mouth.   
  
Syaoran looked at his hands, which, unbeknownst to him, had started shaking involuntarily. He sighed sadly and continued talking. "I have to go home and take care of my family." He glanced at Sakura through his peripheral vision, not wanting to see her in pain but looking anyway, oblivious what his heart was feeling. Sakura tried desperately to be optimistic. She grasped the end of the bench seat and started trembling. She looked straight ahead, watching the young children playing in the park sandbox. She plastered a smile on her face before allowing any tears to form, and she turned her head in Syaoran's general direction.   
  
"Zettai daijoubu dai yo!"   
  
Syaoran was taken aback by her sudden cheerfulness, and he knew it hurt her to say such a thing with a forced smile. He kicked his feet a bit at the sidewalk as he fumbled for the right words to say. "Sakura, you don't have to pretend with me. It... it's all ri-"   
  
"I'm not pretending Syaoran!" Sakura practically yelled her response, surprising both herself and Syaoran. She looked back at her hands, which were trembling even more than before. She couldn't look at him anymore, letting tears run down her face. "Remember, Syaoran? Remember Sakura's invincible phrase? Zettai daijoubu dai yo! Everything will... everything..." She closed her eyes and lifted her knees to her chest, curling up into a bundle of tears and emotions.   
  
Syaoran brushed tears from his own eyes and hugged her tightly. He looked at her disheveled hair before looking up at the sidewalk and mumbling something to himself. "Sakura, I..." He cringed and caught himself before saying anything else.   
  
Sakura gently pushed away from him and looked up at him, concerned and somewhat hopeful for a way to dissolve the pain in her heart. "What is it, Syaoran? Is there something else?"   
  
"Sakura, I... I..." _I love you._ He grimaced and looked away, watching the small children that Sakura had noticed just a bit ago. _It's not that hard to say, you idiot. Just tell her. Let her know what she means to you._ He took her hands in his and looked earnestly into her eyes. "I... I hope life goes well for you."   
  
Sakura was determined not to show her disappointment as those words passed through Syaoran's lips. She smiled graciously and spoke in a calm manner. "Thank you." Syaoran put his arms around her tenderly and embraced her. How would he be able to handle not seeing her again? Perhaps this was the last time he would ever see her. He hugged her tightly, not ever wanting to let her go.   
  
The cell phone in Syaoran's pants pocket rang, and reluctantly, he let go of Sakura and picked it up. "Li Syaoran. Yes? I understand, thank you." He closed the connection and returned the phone to his pocket. "Airport. I have to go now." He gave her a small hug and she smiled half-heartedly at him. She battled with herself as he got up from the park bench and began walking towards the park gates.   
  
"Syaoran!"   
  
Syaoran stopped and turned around to look at Sakura. _Sakura, please... please give me a reason to stay here._ Sakura let out a deep breath, looked up, and smiled brilliantly with a smile only she could manage at such a difficult time. "I... I hope that everything will go well for you in... in Hong Kong."   
  
Syaoran let his shoulders droop just a tiny bit. "Thank you. Not just for that, but for your kindness the entire time I was here." He looked longingly at her and sighed. "Thank you for being such a great friend." He turned around and slowly walked out of the park.   
====================   
===============   
  
  
  
"Sakura..." Her name barely escaped from his lips as he continued look straight into her emerald eyes.   
  
"Syaoran, why are you he-"   
  
"Kinomoto, you can sit down now," Terada-sensei said with an amused look on his face. Syaoran turned around and just managed to keep himself from attacking Terada for interrupting Sakura mid-sentence. He turned back to Sakura, who nodded obediently and silently walked to her seat, slinking into it when she arrived at her destination. Syaoran stared at the back of her head for a minute before decisively scrawling something on a small piece of paper and hastily handing it to her over her shoulder. She turned around in her seat and gave him a questioning look before taking the paper and spinning around just in time to hear Terada-sensei's "Welcome to High School" greeting.   
  
Syaoran sighed as he watched Sakura fumble around with the note and squint at the messy handwriting. Syaoran's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out how in Clow's name he was able to meet Sakura again after such a long time, in the same school and homeroom no less. He let the thought pass as he smiled smugly at his own tact. Or... what he _liked_ to call "tact".   
  
_Sakura, I need to talk to you. Eat lunch with me. -Li_   
  
Syaoran didn't hear the amused chuckle that slipped from Sakura's mouth. _He hasn't changed a bit._   
  
***************   
  
Syaoran had spent his various passing periods catching up with old friends from Tomoeda Elementary, but he knew that the reason his heart was pounding so hard was because, after such a long time, he met Sakura again. His beloved Sakura...   
  
Syaoran mentally slapped himself and shook it off. He'd had his chance to tell Sakura how he felt, and that chance came and went. On his way to China so many years ago, he told himself not to harbor any more feelings for her, knowing that he would never see her again - fate simply wouldn't allow it. Upon arriving at home, he was determined not to think about her anymore and not to dwell on the past - he could handle living without Kinomoto, and he had more important things to worry about.   
  
"Xiao Lang, you blockhead. Stop kidding yourself. You never stopped thinking about her for a minute." He reprimanded himself and gently closed his locker. He stood with his hand on the combination for a few seconds before turning to the side and almost tripping over the foot which found its home conveniently placed just outside Syaoran's line of vision.   
  
"What the hell?" _I'm annoyed now._ This was, of course, until he looked up and saw the toothy grin of his old love-rival-turned-enemy-turned-friend, Eriol Hiiragizawa. Back in fifth grade, Eriol had an amazing way of smiling whenever he was feeling particularly evil, and Syaoran noticed that this had not changed over the years. "Hiiragizawa..." Syaoran rolled his eyes and glared a bit. "Scratch annoyed, I'm ready to kick your --"   
  
"Ahh, my cute little descendant! How have you been? What brings you here to Japan? Seijou Senior High School, no less!" Eriol smiled sincerely and laughed when he saw that Syaoran's glare had only intensified with his words. "Not in much of a mood to talk, huh? Well, why is it you don't want to talk to me, but you want to talk to Sakura so desperately that it was the first thing you said to her?"   
  
_Dammit, he can still do _that_ too._ Syaoran sighed, conceding to his magical superior. "What do you want?"   
  
"Oh, nothing in particular. I just wanted to say hello." Eriol grinned but then feigned a broken heart. "You never write, you never call..." Syaoran rolled his eyes again and continued on his way to his next class. He waved nonchalantly to old companions from years past, some of them smiling and greeting with a simple "hello", others walking with him and talking to him about old times, about what had transpired while he was out of the country, or about the new high school experiences to come.   
  
He departed with them when he reached his classroom door, relaxing a bit before entering the room. He poked his head in and proceeded to a seat in the back. He quietly watched other students filing in, and he found it quite amusing how similar the busy high school atmosphere was to the atmosphere of his simple days in grade school. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself, not noticing when a certain choir major hopped into the seat next to his. When he opened his eyes, he almost cried out, startled by the large pair of violet eyes centimeters away, as well as the mischievous grin that accompanied it. "D-Daidouji! Don't do that?"   
  
Tomoyo Daidouji, pleased with the reaction, leaned back into her chair and smiled. "Why not? I'll scare whomever I want to scare." She paused and leaned in again. "You know, even after five years, you really haven't changed."   
  
_I've noticed that about a lot of people_, Syaoran mused bitterly, narrowing his eyes a bit. "How have I not changed? I've had to handle the responsibilities of the Li clan for what seemed like a lifetime. I've trained every day for years. I'd like to think that I've changed at least a little bit." He smiled light-heartedly, feeling relaxed around the one of his best friends from grade school.   
  
Tomoyo shook her head and gently poked Syaoran between the eyes. "That's not what I mean, Li." Syaoran looked at her quizzically, and she merely stated, "I don't know about your head or your body, but I don't think your heart will ever change. You're still in love with Sakura." She smiled while he looked at her defeatedly.   
  
"I suppose _you're_ still in love with her too, aren't you, Daidouji?" Syaoran asked suspiciously.   
  
"Hmm? I don't think so. Just as long as Sakura is happy, I can be happy. I've learned to look for love in other places," she said, blushing slightly at her comment. "I'm not as stubborn as you are, you know." She'd said the last statement matter-of-factly, and Syaoran was just about to retort an oh-so-stubborn response when suddenly the front door slid open and the Chemistry teacher strode into the room confidently. Syaoran and Tomoyo spun in their seats and pretended to be attentive. "We'll settle this later, Daidouji," Syaoran mumbled, not taking his eyes off the teacher.   
  
Tomoyo barely refrained from laughing out loud as the introduction and lecture about the Wide World of Chemistry began.   
  
***************   
  
Classes came and went, and finally lunch period was upon them. The tired group of eight from the old days of Tomoeda - Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol, Takashi, Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko - found their way to a secluded picnic table under a cherry tree. The blossoms were in the process of blooming, giving a distant "pink" lighting effect as the group sat and talked about everything and nothing at the same time. Throughout the course of the day, or even just of the morning that passed, Syaoran was able to catch up with his old friends, and he was graciously informed of everything that had transpired during his absence.   
  
  
  
===============   
====================   
Syaoran was turning the corner on his way to his Pre-Calculus class when he felt a light tap on the shoulder. He looked lazily behind him to see Takashi Yamazaki grinning his usual "you know I'm lying but you should believe me anyway" grin and Chiharu Mihara latched onto his left arm. "Yamazaki and Mihara, huh? It took you two long enough to get together."   
  
"What are you talking about? It's a known fact that two people with the names Yamazaki and Mihara aren't to date until high school. Those pairs with the names who have dated before high school are said to have fallen off cliffs or been run over by mopeds, in effect dying together in a painful way. We had to be careful. I'm surprised you didn't kno-"   
  
"Yamazaki... stop telling lies after seeing him for the first time in five years." Chiharu squeezed his arm until the flow of blood stopped and the fingers began turning a brilliant shade of blue.   
  
Yamazaki poked Chiharu in the nose. "You know it's true. Besides, if it weren't, you would have given in to my charms long ago." Chiharu rolled her eyes and dragged Yamazaki to their next class. Syaoran smirked a bit and continued, barely keeping himself from bashing Eriol's Cheshire-like grin, that stupid, _stupid_ grin that just _had_ to make another appearance before class. "You can stop following me now, Hiiragizawa."   
  
Eriol shook his head and crept stealthily into the darkness, continuing the mantra from before. "You never write, you never call... I'm starting to think that this relationship is one-sided." Syaoran resisted the sudden urge to summon some lightning and strike Eriol where he stood. He rolled his eyes, an action he was obviously fond of, and continued on into the Pre-Calculus room. He spotted Naoko Yanagizawa and Rika Sasaki right away, or, to be exact, _they_ spotted _him_.   
  
Naoko and Rika immediately struck up a conversation with him, and for the first time that day, Syaoran was actually told about what had changed while he was in China - how such and such were going out ("It should have happened long ago!" Naoko squealed dreamily), how the group barely held up in Japan without him, and minor details such as the latest lunchroom gossip or how some of the note-worthy teacher switches.   
  
The last tidbits reminded Syaoran of this morning's incident. "I noticed him when I sat down at my seat in homeroom this morning - most of you weren't there yet so I couldn't ask - but... why's Terada here? Shouldn't he still be at Tomoeda?"   
  
"Oh, that's right! Terada-sensei was supposed to keep teaching at Tomoeda," Naoko explained, pausing to wink slyly at Rika, "but he transferred here because he couldn't bear to be away from Rika for too long!"   
  
"Nao!"   
====================   
===============   
  
  
  
Syaoran looked up at the blooming cherry blossoms just as a light breeze passed by them. He sighed happily and looked at all of his friends surrounding him. Needless to say, he was extremely happy to see so many familiar faces, but he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that he couldn't talk to Sakura privately.   
  
"Syaoran..." Sakura spoke up for the first time since their re-encounter that morning. "Didn't you want to talk to me during lunch?"   
  
Syaoran looked at her and smiled gently. _She always initiates everything, doesn't she?_ "Yeah..." He raised his voice a bit, addressing the entire group. "I need to talk to Sakura for a minute." He stood up and shook stray blades of grass from his pants. "I don't need any tag-alongs," he added, looking specifically at Tomoyo and Eriol, who proceeded to flash their innocent smiles in Syaoran's direction. Syaoran grunted a bit and signaled to Sakura, who leaned against the tree before standing up and brushing herself off.   
  
The two of them walked in silence and continued walking only until they reached another cherry tree, this one slightly larger and well out of ear-shot of the others. Sakura happily plopped herself on the ground with her back against the tree, just as she would have in fifth grade. Syaoran stood and watched her for a minute, smiling to himself. "Syaoran! You can sit down now."   
  
"Huh? Oh, right." _I guess I'm back to the old days of the Sakura Effect_, he thought, laughing a bit at his on susceptibility and slowly sitting with his legs crossed on the ground in front of Sakura.   
  
"So Syaoran, I didn't get to ask you during homeroom this morning. What are you doing back in Japan?" Sakura had a genuine look of puzzlement on her face, which was suddenly tainted with a hint of sadness. "I mean, I haven't heard from you for almost five years... I just thought you were going to stay in China for the rest of your life..."   
  
Syaoran was surprised by this comment. "Not at all. I went home to take care of my mother and my sisters. My mother made a deal with me when I first got home. She forbade me from any outside contact that would interfere with my duties as the leader of the Li clan, but she promised that once stability had been restored in the household, and once I'd gotten a good deal of training in, she'd let me return to Japan if I wanted to."   
  
"Why did you?"   
  
"Why did I _what_? I think 'why did you return to Japan' and 'why did you want to return to Japan' are two entirely separate questions." Syaoran ran his fingers through his hair, feeling a bit exasperated.   
  
"I think they're one in the same. The fact that you came back to Japan must have had something to do with why you wanted to come back. You wouldn't have returned just for the heck of it, and you wouldn't have had a reason to return and not acted on it, so they're more or less intertwined, I guess..."   
  
"I wonder why you're being so adamant about it," Syaoran said softly, more talking to himself than to Sakura. He looked at the ground by his feet and then back up at Sakura. "I guess I came back because... there were things I left unfinished here."   
  
"Really? How's that? All of your business is in Hong Kong, so you don't have anything to worry about here. Isn't that right?"   
  
"Not entirely. It's true that everything I had to take care of was in China," Syaoran said earnestly, missing the dejected expression in Sakura's eyes, "but everything that I _wanted_ to take care of I left in Japan." Syaoran looked back at the ground by his feet, not daring to look up at Sakura. Even after years of physical and spiritual training, he couldn't begin to guess what Sakura might have thinking at the moment.   
  
Sakura hesitated for a minute before speaking. "Sya... Syaoran, what are you saying?" Syaoran looked up at her, smiling a small, defeated smile. "I guess it's my turn to initiate things." Before Sakura could ask another question, Syaoran leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened for an instant before she relaxed and she realized that all of her questions were being answered.   
  
Suddenly there was nothing left to say.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
I feel particularly poetic right now, although I really, _really_ didn't like the ending of that chapter. -_- I watched a really great performance of Shakespeare's _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ (funny, funny play), and the entire night afterwards I was involuntarily saying odd things like "the chamber regarded to as the stomach has been adequately filled, but the four chambers directly above have been filled with nothing but a void". That's what Shakespeare can do to you. ~_~   
  
I'll try to get the next chapter up by next week. Perhaps putting them up in weekly incriments would be a grand idea, ne?   
  
Just in case you haven't noticed, I tend to write stories from weird P's OV (never say POV's in front of me. I don't know what a "point of views" is). The Prologue was from Sakura's Third-Person POV, and Chapter 1 from Syaoran's. The flashbacks are usually from a Third-Person Omniscient point of view, not really leaning towards anyone's perspective (or perhaps each person's at different times) unless they're a memory belonging to one specific person. I don't know how the P's OV will continue - I guess I'll just type in the POV I think is most appropriate, or perhaps just the one I think is funner.   
  
And yes, I know "funner" isn't a word. 


End file.
